LIVE from the Diamond Princess - 35 days Singapore to Vancouver

[generichandle]

Pia, Pia;

 

Tsk, tsk, we knew you would be already gloating about the great time you are having while we are stuck staring at the PC screen with envy. But as long as YOU have a good time, I guess our lives are ok. :rolleyes:

 

LOL! Cannot wait! Still two weeks before embark and 10 days before we fly. See you then.

 

Oh, btw, I do not know what kind of cabin you have. After the 'balcony furnishings' controversy, I do wonder what anyone now is finding on the balconies. Any idea?

 

And I hope you a wrong and the Princess phone call was correct. They assured me that you can at least get tea/coffee all night in the buffet area, that a part was set aside and stocked for those of us who are often awake at 3AM. As you may guess, c'est moi.

 

Enjoy the heck out of it Pia.

 

Soon;

 

Doug

[Carolina Cruisers 2]

See post #22. Kiwi Kruzer posted the itinerary for all.:D

 

 

David - in my rush of reading 8 threads :D:D:D I took all that red to be your signature. THANKS A BUNCH FOR POSTING!

[Carolina Cruisers 2]

Pia & Mike - Diamond Cruise Itinerary

Date Port Arrive Depart

Sun 15/04/12 Singapore / Singapore 18:00

Mon 16/04/12 At Sea

Tue 17/04/12 At Sea

Wed 18/04/12 Laem Chabang / Thailand 07:00 19:00

Thu 19/04/12 At Sea

Fri 20/04/12 Ho Chi Minh City / Vietnam 07:00 18:00

Sat 21/04/12 Nha Trang / Vietnam 07:30 17:00

Sun 22/04/12 At Sea

Mon 23/04/12 Hong Kong / China 09:00 23:59

Tue 24/04/12 At Sea

Wed 25/04/12 At Sea

Thu 26/04/12 Shanghai / China 07:00 18:00

Fri 27/04/12 At Sea

Sat 28/04/12 Nagasaki / Japan 07:00 18:00

Sun 29/04/12 Busan / South Korea 07:00 14:00

Mon 30/04/12 At Sea

Tue 01/05/12 Tianjin / China 04:00 18:00

Wed 02/05/12 Dalian / China 09:00 18:00

Thu 03/05/12 At Sea

Fri 04/05/12 Busan / South Korea 08:00 17:00

Sat 05/05/12 At Sea

Sun 06/05/12 Vladivostok / Russia 04:00 19:00

Mon 07/05/12 At Sea

Tue 08/05/12 Muroran / Japan 06:00 17:00

Wed 09/05/12 At Sea

Thu 10/05/12 Date Line 12:00 13:00

Fri 11/05/12 At Sea

Sat 12/05/12 At Sea

Sun 13/05/12 At Sea

Mon 14/05/12 Seward (Alaska) / USA 09:00 17:00

Tue 15/05/12 Hubbard Glacier (cruising) / USA 12:30 17:30

Wed 16/05/12 Juneau (Alaska) / USA 09:00 16:00

Thu 17/05/12 Ketchikan (Alaska) / USA 10:00 17:00

Fri 18/05/12 At Sea

Sat 19/05/12 Vancouver / Canada 07:30

 

Traveled Distance: 19,870.22 km/10,729.06 nm

 

Itinerary may be subject to change at any time.

 

Posted by David!!

[manchester cruiser]

The morning agenda starts with a Thailand lecture, which will conflict with our M & G. Port lecturer for this cruise is Hutch; very knowledgeable guy who actually tells you things. He does not do what some others do which is read from a script.

 

Hutch is definitely very knowledgeable and tells a great story - really added to our cruise with his commentary (barcelona to venice on Ruby). Only thing I would suggest is checking the exact details on line of travel arrangements he suggests as we found he wasnt always upto date (or in one case wildly innacurate!). Great guy though and far, for more interesting than the people who just tell you about shops to buy stuff you'll never look at again or breaks before you get it home:)

[Pia1913]

Good Morning. It’s Wednesday, and we’re in Thailand. To be exact, we’re in Laem Chabang, which is approximately 2 ½ hours outside of Bangkok. We have been to Thailand twice before and in fact spent three weeks in this very interesting country. Most of the passengers will be going into Bangkok, but we have opted to take a half day tour to a place called Nong Nuch Village; botanical gardens and a cultural performance. That’s all I know for now.

　

 

It’s very early, so this will be brief and I will check in when we return.

 

 

Answers:

1. Sarah: Nationalities are more than 300 Brazilians, lots of Asians, and also a large German contingent. Then we have mostly Canadians I believe, along with UK, Australia and sundry other countries. The demographics should change somewhat in Beijing, because only 700 will be continuing on to Vancouver.

2. Andrea: Yes, Oliver got off in Singapore. I think he’s the relief for Sagani, but could be wrong and it’s the opposite. Also, re: Hutch - he always does a good job. I’ve known him for years. He can be personable, or not. Hard to get too close, because then people continually bother him.

.

[basor]

Thanks for the "live from" - all of us getting on in Beijing are enjoying the first 2 weeks of your cruise while we prepare for ours....

 

A quick question - how are the beds??? Are they the new ones or the old ones?

 

See you 2 weeks from today!!

 

Ron and Barbara

[icat2000]

Thanks Pia for providing the update on the nationalities. Look forward to hearing about your trip to Nong Nuch Village.

[sunvalley cruisers]

Pia, in regards to the M&G conflicting with the lecture, what do you think is the best time for the M&G on the first day at sea without conflict? I'd like to start thinking about next years April sailing since we are now rebooked.

 

Thanks, Anne

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Enjoy your time in the village.

 

 

 

[CHELSEADOG]

Hi Pia,

We got off Diamond Princess when you boarded in Singapore. Was a great cruise. We had a lot of trouble with the internet also. Looking forward to hearing about your adventures and comparing them to ours.

 

Carol

[Bowie MeMe]

I am to be on the Diamond Princess in Oct. 25, 2012. I love the IC but really would hate to have "big time" reconstruction done while cruising. The IC is sort of in the middle of things and I have a cabin on deck 8 right off the midships elevators. Think it will be construction time in Oct. ?

[Caribbean Here We Come]

Hi Pia, My Mom and Stepdad are onboard with you and told me I should follow along on your live feed. I think you know them from previous cruises - Meredith & Bob (cruzin noony is her user name). Anyway I hope you all have fun and that is cools down for you! Angela

[Pia1913]

Back on board from our Laem Chabang escapade. We boarded our bus at 7:45 and off we went to Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. It took just about an hour to there; an area with beautifully landscaped entrance and lots of lovely animal topiaries. We had a little time to peruse the assorted gift shops (many vendors), and then made our way to the theater for a musical/cultural performance. Dancers, singers, drummers, all on a huge stage with numerous backdrops. The theater was in the round, stadium style, and we sat in the first row. They also set up a boxing ring and we enjoyed two rounds of kick boxing. Though the two boxers wore gloves, they hardly used anything other than their feet and their bodies. Such agility! The elephants arrived towards the end and came up to us; very close and personal. Too close for me. Afterwards we proceeded to another theater, again in the round, but this one was outdoors. We were undercover, but it was hot. This was for the elephant show; lots of talent here. Elephants played soccer, painted on canvas, bowled, played basketball, pedaled go carts and danced. Also walked over several volunteers. Can’t say whether any of them were Princess passengers.

 

　

This place is quite interesting; lots of orchids as well as clay pot art. There are animals, items (cars, trains, etc.) and archways all made out of small clay pots. Amazing. Afterwards a stop at the requisite jewelry establishment; HUGE and beautiful. We just used the facilities there. Back to the ship shortly after 2:00. For those who didn’t book a tour, there was a free shuttle running into town (45 minutes each way) and quite a bit of shopping available right in the terminal.

 

　

A few minutes ago I tried to log on; no good. Internet has been awful and I feel lucky any time I can connect. Meanwhile, I will give you a brief idea of what is happening the rest of the day. Needless to say there was not much going on this morning, other than the Charlie Chaplin movie Gold Rush which was shown on MUTS at 10 AM. There’s to be a folkloric show at 5:00; doubt if we will attend, since it should be along the same lines as what we saw earlier. We sail at 7:00 and tonight’s entertainment is Cowboys and Aliens on MUTS and a banjo player in the theater. I foresee a movie in the cabin or just some reading.

 

 

Angela: Not only do i know your mom, she and Bob are our friends. They are also our trivia partners. We haven't done a thing yet. :(

 

Basor: beds are great. Nice new mattresses that really are mattresses. :p

 

Anne: hard to know, since we have no idea of Patter schedules.

[ibfern]

Hi Pia,

 

Sounds like a great day in Nong Nuch Village! I am so jealous, I want to be there now. No time for trivia yet? It sounds like the Phantoms might be a force to reckon with!

 

Too bad about the internet, it certainly makes it difficult to post live when it requires so much time. We all appreciate you taking this time to answer our questions, you rock!

 

I'll see you and the gang in 13 days!!!! We are so excited!

[aaerobear]

Pia,

 

Tell the Phantoms that Ed and Jeff say hello. Remind Bob, that it is all about the luggage tags.........

[wineforhealth]

Pia

 

It looked like from the Diamond Cruise Cam that Laem Chabang port was very industrial with all the ship container lifts on the pier. Is the only site seeing there if you take shuttle into Nong Nuch Village?

 

did you find any Thai wine? :)

[Bowie MeMe]

Hi Pia We are planning our Bangkok embarkation on the DP in Oct. Had not heard of the village you went to and we are scheduled for the Rose Garden one day that week. Have you been to the Rose Garden? If so could you compare the two establishments since they seem to be fairly similar. Anybody else that could compare the Village and the Rose Garden? Thanks.

[Momfong]

Hi Pia,

 

I am enjoying your posts. We were on the Diamond Princess last month ... great time.

 

Have you had any towel animals in your cabin? We had none on our 16-day cruise and we were just wondering if Princess had done away with them altogether. It's not a deal-breaker but they are fun to see.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and we look forward to future posts from you. :rolleyes:

[ibfern]

Pia

 

It looked like from the Diamond Cruise Cam that Laem Chabang port was very industrial with all the ship container lifts on the pier. Is the only site seeing there if you take shuttle into Nong Nuch Village?

 

did you find any Thai wine? :)

 

OK Jim you are going to have to teach me about wine! What is Thai wine?

[Pia1913]

Happy Thursday, which will most likely be another hot and humid day. I am not complaining, since I know I’ll soon be telling you how cold it has gotten when we get to China and thereafter. Yesterday’s heat wiped us out, so we ate very little the rest of the day. Visited the casino last night; made our own entertainment. He lost; I won. All is good.

 

　

Today’s morning schedule is a port lecture on Nha Trang at 9:45, the second 3 hour only sale at 10:00, History of Hollywood: The Last Samurai on MUTS at 10:00 and a lecture; The Story of Vietnam at 11:00. We have a private tour scheduled for tomorrow going to Ho Chi Minh City, so we have a brief orientation meeting at 10:00 too.

 

　

Two movies in the afternoon - Happy Feet 2 on MUTS and Albert Nobbs in the theater. Tonight will feature the magician again in Explorers and the production show Words and Music in the theater. MUTS has The Artist.

 

　

I forgot to mention that you need not change currency in Thailand, which I knew from previous visits. All is still the same. They love US dollars. Also should mention that Princeton Clothiers from Hong Kong are aboard and they are taking measurements for both male and female for custom made clothing. Don’t have a clue about costs, but thought this was very interesting. Whatever is made will be shipped to the customer within a few weeks.

 

ANSWERS:

 

1. Don't know anything about Rose Garden and yes, free shuttle is what I mentioned

 

2. I don't recall Princess doing towel animals and we have over 50 cruises

 

3. Ed: we talk about you every day. :D

 

4. Jim, ours was a paid shorex. Don't know what you do if you just take the shuttle.

 

 

I smell waffles. Bye.

[WaggesAZ]

Thank you Pia, I appreciate all your tips and tidbits about the sailing and ship-great news about the mattresses! :D Our family will be aboard the Diamond in just 5 short weeks! Would you happen to know if they are offering any flavored brewed coffees? I have purchased Starbucks via & flavored Stevia (hazelnut is my favorite) but would be thrilled to leave them at home! We are heading to Alaska, so I am certain I will be partaking in lots of coffee, and would love to know what to expect. TIA

 

Safe travels to you!

[ccrain]

Pre-Cruise 04-07-12 to Singapore:

When booking this cruise and having never been to Asia before, we decided to spend additional time in Singapore pre-cruise. We also decided to use our FF miles to do business class to Singapore, and we wanted to make this one heck of a vacation rather than a simple get away cruise. So we spent a couple of days in transit, first to SFO on Saturday the 7th and then leaving SFO for Singapore on the 8th via ANA business class. Loved the flight to Narita from SFO. The ANA airport staff bowed to all passengers prior to boarding. Our first indication that this was not going to be a normal trip to the Caribbean. This ANA 777 had the new staggered lie flat business seats that were comfortable and very private. So private that Judy and I barely saw each other the whole flight. The food, and we selected the japanese entrees, was superb. Very different tastes and textures and highly enjoyable.

Having never been to Narita before, we were a bit apprehensive about the connection, but the pathways were clearly marked and easy to find. We made our way to our connecting gate easily and quickly – but forgot to get a souvenier from Narita! Now we have to go back!

The trip to Singapore was on an older 767 with the older business class seats. Not as comfortable as the previous trip, but still comfortable enough to sleep most of the way to Singapore.

We arrived in Singapore about 12:10 AM. We breezed through luggage collection, customs, immigration and out to the cabs, which were our only choice and had the 50% surcharge. I think it was about S$35 to the Conrad Singapore. We picked the Conrad Singapore because of the HH points I had banked. We had two choices, the Hilton on Orchard and the Conrad. I picked the Conrad because it was off the orchard complexes and had a better set of reviews on various websites over the Hilton. It was a good choice. As a Diamond member, we got upgraded to the executive floor which features a free breakfast, high tea and drinks at night. The Conrad was also a good choice because of its proximity to a lot of stuff to see and do around Raffles, Suntec center and City Hall.

Our first day was actually Tuesday morning. We had read about the SMRT tourist pass and went to City Hall MRT to pick one up. Two things are readily apparent first off.

1 – Singaporeans take work very seriously and move at 90MPH on the weekday to and from work.

2 – Singapore is one big shopping mall after another.

Once we got into the underground system of tunnels, shopping malls and escalators around Suntec and Raffles, we didn’t have to go out on the street and face the heat and humidity.

A 3 day SMRT pass was S$60 for the two of us, with S$20 being refundable upon return of the card. Can not recommend this option enough. It is a great and cheap way to see the city. We definitely got our money’s worth on this one.

So on Tuesday we did the Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid gardens. Very beautiful. A cheap and easy introduction to the city and well worth the time. We simply MRT’ed up to the Botanical Gardens station, got off and walked around the place for most of the day. Got caught in a thunderstorm rain so nice we didn’t bother to get our umbrellas out. It was that nice and warm. That evening we had dinner in the Food Republic food court across the street in the Suntec convention center. Just a simple matter of getting in the longest line and asking what to get. French cooking may have great sauces, but Asian cooking has broths down pat.

Several on-line Singapore sites suggest splitting the Zoo and the Night Safari. As hot as it was in Singpore, I couldn’t agree more. So we did the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, the Zoo on Wednesday, Little India and Mustafa with the Night Safari on Thursday, the HIPPO on Friday (with Marina Sands), the local sights (Merlion, Esplande and Raffles) on Saturday.

The Zoo was pretty good, but it was pretty hot and humid as well. The Night Safari was very different. Both highly recommended and with the MRT pass you get to people watch the locals although the trek via MRT to the Night Safari and back was long but part of the experience. Little India and Mustafa was interesting, but Mustafa was not what Bourdain lets it on to be in the Layover. Yes, its big and yes it has a lot of stuff. But its not that big Tony! We did all of our bangle and bongle shopping for the trip there. Prices not that great, but we got some good stuff for the inlaws.

We were very glad that did the HIPPO on Friday as the busses were just jammed on Saturday. We did the city route first, then jumped on the historical route and ended up at Marina Bay Sands. Marina Bay Sands is a shopper’s and architect’s dream, while being a builder’s nightmare. It is impressive from the shops under the convention center to the top of the observation deck. There is a HUGE water feature, I call the Salad Bowl, that swirls water around the bowl while draining out the bottom into an artificial river with gondola’s on it. We explored it from top to bottom. It was a great way to spend a day out of the heat.

The heat and humidity was an appetite killer for sure. We did not get to eat our way through Singapore. We did have some really good dishes. We did Chicken Rice, Laksa, Hosien Shrimp, some incredible fresh and fantastic scallops in a spicy brown sauce.

The prices at the food courts and hawker centers were ridiculously low. Chicken Rice as like S$4.50 and Judy’s noodle soup was S$7.50. When you got to the restaurants, the prices went insane. At No Sign Seafood we spent like S$120 on dinner – and we got charged for using extra napkins! At Oscar’s, in the Conrad, we spent S$115 for lunch. Singapore is not cheap.

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Singapore. The hotel was great, the location perfect for our travel needs, the SMRT pass a great bargain, the Zoo, Night Safari and Botanical gardens a must see, Mustafa a great source for all kinds of souvenirs and the view from the Marina Bay Sands just not to be missed. While we did not do the DUKW, we do recommend the HIPPO to get an overall view of the city and to see a lot of sights in a very little time.

[ccrain]

04-15-2012: On Board

The one thing we hate about land cruising, but love about cruising is the packing and unpacking. So Sunday morning was a matter of repacking everything. We had pre-scouted Exhibit Hall C at the Marina Bay Sands convention center, so it was a matter a getting a cab and running over. It was easy as pie, the smoothest embarkation ever. From entering the hall at about 12:15, to the ship was around 60 minutes. Luggage arrived almost immediately and we were unpacked and settled well before muster drill.

We are in E732, one of the aft balcony cabins. We were in one similar to this one on the Star to Antarctica in 2010. It is a standard balcony cabin but has a huge deck that overlooks the stern and the wake. Basically no wind hardly at all and lots of room. Unfortunately we have one of the new coasters with legs for a table. Large enough for a couple of cups of coffee, not much else, and the two new deck chairs are not loungers and feel sort of flimsy. Having been in a suite for the past three cruises, we do miss it, especially Sabatini’s in the morning, but it’s not that bad. The main thing I miss is the large shower in a suite. I’m getting to know the shower curtain much more intimately than I care to at this point.

The one thing we did do, and we really thank ToTo From Kansas for, is that we purchased a $35 mattress pad before we left home to put on the bed from Walmart. It works great. The bed is now super comfortable without the canyon or the hump in the middle.

We’ve never been on the Diamond or Sapphire before and I really like the layout and subtle differences between this version of the Grand class and Fincanteri’s version. The ship is longer, or at least its only 2.5x around for a mile, and the promenade deck is much wider. The balcony cabins on Emerald deck as you go up the stairs around the bow are missing. The dining room layout is much more intimate. The HC is pretty standard layout, but at least they are enforcing the entrance and exit at opposite ends, which does help the flow. The elevators are offset in a nook rather than side to side across the lobby. It took some getting used to. MUTS is brand new and really a great screen with no flaws that we can see.

The Diamond has the wheelhouse forward like the super Grands and the Coral class. The internet café is back by Sabatini’s and the photo gallery.

The Diamond has not had her full upgrade yet. The IC, Vines or Alfredo’s and the new Piazza is not in place yet. We will miss the IC for its greek salad and Vines for its Sushi, or Alfredos for its great Pizza. Crown Grill is not yet installed and still using a portion of the HC for the Sterling Steakhouse – but I must say it is nicely done compared to the old Sun class method of sectioning off with portable partitions.

At sea entertainment is packed with stuff. Hutch’s port lectures are real port lectures with lots of real tips, not just a fluff piece of various shopping venues. He does tell it like it is and thank goodness they tape and show the show in loop later on TV, because he covers so much ground you need to hear all of this stuff once or twice just to get all the tidbits. Zumba, ball room and line dance classes are packed. Tap class, not so busy. (Judy is learning how to tap dance – I’m observing from the side lines.) MUTS has stuff going on all day.

Evening entertainment has been mainly movies, a little dancing and a lot of sleeping. The 14 hour time difference from home is just a killer.

The Food. So far we’ve only been to the HC, but the food has been really good. The heat is a real appetite killer, not to mention the fact that we are on this ship for 35 days and I only have one size of clothes, plus we learned a long time ago that you don’t have to eat everything in sight. That being said, the HC food is pretty good for lunch and dinner. The Pizza is good and the burgers as well. I’ve really enjoyed the cold salads for lunch and dinner. For breakfast Judy has been chowing down on the Chonge, a thick rice soup, and I’ve been doing the yogurt and horse feed cereal (mueslix). Tonight is Chef’s table, so we will really indulge there.

The Service. Really good so far. No problems in getting glasses of water. Always a smile and still the ‘don’t look away from your plate or its gone’ type service in the HC.

Thailand –

This is our first trip to Asia. Thus the criteria for excursions was that we were going with Princess and the excursions with the more sights were the ones we selected. So in Thailand, we did 100-A. The palace, golden budda, river cruise and lunch. Overall I would give it a Fair to Good score. Two things made it less enjoyable, the bad A/C on the bus and the food for lunch was too westernized. We left Lem Chabang around 0730 on the bus. Our guide was knowledgeable, funny and quite personable as was our bus driver and the on-board helper. I did not know that in order to be considered an eligible bachelor, you must have spent at least 3 months as a Buddhist monk. And it was clear that these people adore their king – don’t care for the crown prince as much – but they adore their king.

About an hour into our trip, we knew we were going to have problems as the bus A/C was not keeping up with the heat load at all. But the excitement and frenzy of Bangkok was keeping us enthused. This is a huge sprawling metropolis with the ancient and new right next to each other. The Wats were incredible. Standing out like beacons in the midst of houses, office building and apartments. We just in Rome last October and the differences in architecture and design philosophy are striking. Straight lines, perspective and accurate depiction of human anatomy are the sin qua na of Roman design. Curves, no straight lines and emphasis on story telling (caricature) in figures seems to be the basis of Tai and Buddhist architecture and art. Such a contrast of styles. It was impressive. The golden Buddha and the story behind it was fascinating – how would you like to find over 5 tons of GOLD discarded! That was a treasure story. The palace was fantastic. Everywhere you turned a cacophony of colors and figures and buildings. Just dazzling.

After the palace we did a quick river cruise and fed a whole school of catfish with bread. Great photos and an interesting view of Bangkok from the river. While I’m not big on this kind of touristy stuff, it was enjoyable as well as much cooler.

Lunch was a let down. The best thing on the menu as the pork rib soup, as long as you added the Thai chilies to the mix. Everything else was too westernized and safe. On the way to the river walked through a street food vendor area that had some really good looking food. That’s where we should have eaten. Oh well.

I need to mention to heat. It was hot. As our guide said, there is hot, really hot and bloody hot. According to her, it was bloody hot – and humid. We almost lost one lady to heat stroke during the walks around the Grand Palace. The sun was overhead and scorching. If not for the breeze around Bangkok, we all would have collapsed. Even the locals were sweating, so I didn’t feel too bad.

Back on the bus after lunch, the A/C was only cooling a little bit - I would guess the temp in the bus was around 85-90F. It was a pretty miserable ride back to the ship, interrupted by a stop at a jewelry store with really high end gems and prices to match. No way I was going to spend 30 minutes and several thousand dollars, so we just sat around the lobby until it was time to go. The heat got worse on the two hour ride back as the sun settled and shown right in through the windows. Closing the curtains helped, but not completely. On top of that we ran out of water. We went through eight bottles of water, plus two at lunch and still should have had a couple more. I will have to recalculate my water carrying during our trips to Vietnam.

But I would recommend this trip to first timers to Bangkok. It was a quick trip and overview of a lot of stuff at once, but now I would probably do Bangkok on our own, or do the Tiger Zoo closer to the port. One final note – take a lot of water with you and I mean a lot of water.

[SkystheLimit]

Thank you for the wonderful reviews from everyone. Hope you get some relief from the heat as you progress. Haven't sailed on the Diamond and really appreciate the description of differences,etc.

 

Just curious--is Maurizio on board as an entertainer? If so, would love to know his future plans on Princess.

 

Hope you continue to enjoy your cruise and please keep posting when you have time.

[wineforhealth]

OK Jim you are going to have to teach me about wine! What is Thai wine?

 

Amelia , it was more of just a joke, Thai short for Thailand. don't think they grow wine grapes it the hot humid weather there, Sake yes.

 

When we all get to Spain we can have a great time shopping for wine.